The Chance of a Lifetime Turned Down
Because of his rising star status, Travolta could now select the parts he wanted to play. As early as 1984, he was given the lead role in Splash, a film starring Daryl Hannah as a mermaid who ends up in New York. Tom Hanks accepted the job after several other well-known actors of the time, including Michael Keaton, Bill Murray, Dudley Moore, Allen Bauer, and Chevy Chase, all declined. The actor’s representative didn’t think it was the best fit for Travolta. This was a bad decision because the film ended up being one of the year’s biggest hits at the box office. It’s impossible to say how successful the film would have been if Travolta had been cast as the lead.